Lorena Otes and Lindsay Bartels: Solo Mum by Choice

Date: Sunday 26th July 
Time: 3-4pm
Location: Bookoccino
Free Tickets Here

In this special Bookoccino event, award-winning local author Lorena Otes talks with fellow memoirist Lindsay Bartels about their unique perspectives on motherhood, IVF and fertility, and the imminent birth of their respective book babies.

As modern reproduction and family diversity reach exponential new heights, Lorena and Lindsay will unpack how their own very different, but tied by IVF journeys to motherhood came to be. And what exactly prompted them to write it all down to become the books they created.

Expect laughs, challenging discussion, and raw honesty as Lorena and Lindsay discuss it all in the beautiful surrounds of the iconic BOOKOCCINO store.

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Born and bred on Sydney’s Northern beaches, Lorena Otes is a mother, author and dance teacher with a BA(Hons) in contemporary dance and choreography. Her deeply personal memoir, Solo Mum by Choice (Hawkeye Publishing), tells of her journey to and through an exponentially growing version of solo motherhood through the lens of her own experience. It placed runner-up in the Hawkeye Publishing Manuscript Development Prize 2024.

Lorena has written for Feels Blind Literary, The Brussels Review, Mamamia Online, and Bounty Parents. Her humour articles have appeared in Witcraft Magazine, Defenestration Literary Humour Magazine, Scalar Comet, and Little Old Lady Comedy. Lorena is a flash-fiction-writing tragic. Her short stories have longlisted in countless competitions, including the Australian Writers’ Centre’s Furious Fiction, the Not Quite Write Prize, and The Letter Review.

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A native Texan turned Coloradan then Californian, Lindsay Bartels always pursues bringing the personal into her art. She has a BFA in Filmmaking, graduating with honors for her autobiographical documentary, and an MFA in Interior Architecture, focusing on sustainable design practices. When her firstborn was a year old, she created a workbook for new parents called Your Baby Manual. Lindsay currently lives in Manly with her husband, their children, and two dogs where she is working on a novel about motherhood, everyday magic and belonging. Imogen In Waiting: A Memoir of Modern Reproduction is her debut and releases on June 16th with Third Rail Press.